Hath the late overthrow wrought this offence?
Be not difmay'd, for fuccour is at hand:
A holy maid hither with me I bring,
Which, by a vifion fent to her from heaven,
Ordained is to raise this tedious fiege,

And drive the English forth the bounds of France,
The spirit of deep prophecy the hath,
Exceeding the nine fibyls of old Rome ;4
What's paft, and what's to come, the can defcry.
Speak, fhall I call her in? Believe my words,5
For they are certain and unfallible.

CHAR. GO, call her in: [Exit Baftard.] But, firft,
to try her skill,

Reignier, ftand thou as Dauphin in my place: Question her proudly, let thy looks be ftern:By this means fhall we found what skill fhe hath.

[Retires.

Enter LA PUCELLE, Baftard of Orleans, and Others.

REIG. Fair maid, is't thou wilt do these wond'rous feats?

Puc. Reignier, is't thou that thinkeft to beguile me?

Where is the Dauphin?-come, come from behind;

nine fibyls of old Rome;] There were no nine fibyls of Rome; but he confounds things, and mistakes this for the nine books of Sibylline oracles, brought to one of the Tarquins. WARBURTON.

Believe my words,] It fhould be read:

Believe her words. JOHNSON.

I perceive no need of change. The Baftard calls upon the Dauphin to believe the extraordinary account he has just given of the prophetick fpirit and prowels of the Maid of Orleans.

MALONE.

I know thee well, though never feen before..
Be not amaz'd, there's nothing hid from me:
In private will I talk with thee apart ;-
Stand back, you lords, and give us leave a while.
REIG. She takes upon her bravely at first dash.

Puc. Dauphin, I am by birth a shepherd's daugh

ter,

My wit untrain'd in any kind of art.

Heaven, and our Lady gracious, hath it pleas'd
To shine on my contemptible eftate:6
Lo, whilft I waited on my tender lambs,
And to fun's parching heat difplay'd my cheeks,
God's mother deigned to appear to me;
And, in a vifion full of majesty,"
Will'd me to leave my bafe vocation,
And free my country from calamity:
Her aid fhe promis'd, and affur'd fuccefs:
In complete glory the reveal'd herself;
And, whereas I was black and fwart before,
With those clear rays which fhe infus'd on me,
That beauty am I blefs'd with, which you fee.8
Afk me what question thou canft poffible,
And I will anfwer unpremeditated :
My courage try by combat, if thou dar'ft,
And thou fhalt find that I exceed my fex.

To fhine on my contemptible eftate:] So, in Daniel's Complaint of Rofamond, 1594:

7

thy king &c.

Lightens forth glory on thy dark eftate." STEEVENS.

a vifion full of majefty,] So, in The Tempeft: "This is a moft majestick vifion." STEEVENS. which you fee.] Thus the fecond folio. The firft, injudiciously as well as redundantly,-which you may fee.

8

STEEVENS.

Refolve on this:9 Thou shalt be fortunate,
If thou receive me for thy warlike mate.

CHAR. Thou haft aftonish'd me with thy high terms;

Only this proof I'll of thy valour make,-
In fingle combat thou shalt buckle with me;
And, if thou vanquifheft, thy words are true;
Otherwise, I renounce all confidence.

Puc. I am prepar'd: here is my keen-edg'd fword,

Deck'd with five flower-de-luces on each fide;' The which at Touraine, in Saint Katharine's churchyard,

Out of a deal of old iron I chofe forth.2

CHAR. Then come o'God's name, I fear no wo

man.

• Refolve on this :] i. e. be firmly perfuaded of it. So, in King Henry VI. P. III:

66

66

I am refolv'd

"That Clifford's manhood lies upon his tongue."

STEEVENS.

Deck'd with five flower-de-luces &c.] Old copy-fine; but we should read, according to Holinthed,-five flower-de-luces. in a fecret place there among old iron, appointed the hir fword to be fought out and brought her, that with five floure-delices was graven on both fides," &c. STEEVENS.

The fame mistake having happened in A Midsummer-Night's Dream, and in other places, I have not hesitated to reform the text, according to Mr. Steevens's fuggeftion. In the MSS. of the age of Queen Elizabeth, u and n are undistinguishable.

MALONE.

2 Out of a deal of old iron &c.] The old copy yet more redundantly-Out of a great deal &c. I have no doubt but the original line stood, elliptically, thus:

Out a deal of old iron I chofe forth.

The phrase of hofpitals is ftill an out door, not an out of door patient. STEEVENS.

Puc. And, while I live, I'll ne'er fly from a man. [They fight. CHAR. Stay, ftay thy hands; thou art an Ama

zon,

And fightest with the fword of Deborah.

Puc. Chrift's mother helps me, elfe I were too

weak.

CHAR. Whoe'er helps thee, 'tis thou that muft help me :

Impatiently I burn with thy defire ;3

My heart and hands thou haft at once subdu'd.
Excellent Pucelle, if thy name be so,

Let me thy fervant, and not fovereign, be;
'Tis the French Dauphin fueth to thee thus.
Puc. I muft not yield to any rites of love,
For my profeffion's facred from above:
When I have chafed all thy foes from hence,
Then will I think upon a recompenfe.

CHAR. Mean time, look gracious on thy proftrate

thrall.

REIG. My lord, methinks, is very long in talk. ALEN. Doubtlefs he fhrives this woman to her fmock;

Elfe ne'er could he fo long protract his speech. REIG. Shall we difturb him, fince he keeps no mean?

3 Impatiently I burn with thy defire;] The amorous conftitution of the Dauphin has been mentioned in the preceding play:

Doing is activity, and he will still be doing."

COLLINS.

The Dauphin in the fucceeding play is John, the elder brother of the prefent fpeaker. He died in 1416, the year after the battle of Agincourt. RITSON.

ALEN. He may mean more than we poor men do know :

These women are fhrewd tempters with their tongues.

REIG. My lord, where are you? what devise you on ?

Shall we give over Orleans, or no?

Puc. Why, no, I fay, diftruftful recreants! Fight till the laft gafp; I will be your guard. CHAR. What the fays, I'll confirm; we'll fight it out.

Puc. Affign'd am I to be the English scourge. This night the fiege affuredly I'll raise : Expect Saint Martin's fummer,+ halcyon days, Since I have entered into thefe wars. Glory is like a circle in the water, Which never ceaseth to enlarge itself,

Till, by broad fpreading, it disperse to nought.5

Expect Saint Martin's fummer,] That is, expect profperity after misfortune, like fair weather at Martlemas, after winter has begun. JOHNSON.

5 Glory is like a circle in the water,

Which never ceafeth to enlarge itself,

Till, by broad Spreading, it difperfe to nought.] So, in Nofce Teipfum, a poem by Sir John Davies, 1599:

"As when a ftone is into water caft,

"One circle doth another circle make,

"Till the laft circle reach the bank at laft."

The fame image, without the particular application, may be found in Silius Italicus, Lib. XIII :

"Sic ubi perrumpfit ftagnantem calculus undam,
"Exiguous format per prima volumina gyros,
"Mox tremulum vibrans motu glifcente liquorem
"Multiplicat crebros finuati gurgitis orbes;
"Donec poftremo laxatis circulus oris,
"Contingat geminas patulo curvamine ripas.".

MALONE.

This was a favourite fimile with Pope. It is to be found also